O.Thetford, P.Gray German Aircraft of the First World War (Putnam)

Siemens-Schuckert E I Following its appearance in the autumn of 1915, a small batch of twenty of these aircraft was ordered. The prototype is illustrated. It was of conventional construction, with ply-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings, with warp control instead of ailerons; production machines did not feature the pointed spinner of the prototype. Engine, 100 h.p. Siemens-Halske Sh I. Span, 100 m. (32 ft. 9 3/4 in.). Length, 7.1 m. (23 ft. 3 5/8 in.). Weights: Empty, 473 kg. (1,041 lb.). Loaded, 673 kg. (1,481 lb.). Duration, 1 1/2 hr. Armament, one Spandau machine-gun. The Siemens-Schuckert E III. built in 1916, was virtually an E I with a 100 h.p. Oberursel U I engine. One Spandau gun was fitted. Only six machines were built.

Siemens-Schuckert E II Only a single E II was built, similar in most respects to the E I, but with an in-line engine instead of a rotary. The machine was completed early in 1916, but destroyed in June of that year when being demonstrated at Doberitz by Franz Steffen, who was killed in the crash. Engine, 120 h.p. Argus As II. Armament, one Spandau machine-gun.

W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters

SIEMENS-SCHUCKERT (SSW) E I Germany

The first single-seat fighter to be produced by the Siemens-Schuckert-Werke (SSW), the E I monoplane was designed by Franz Steffen and completed in October 1915. Of conventional shoulder-wing arrangement with warp control rather than ailerons, the E I had steel-tube wing spars, fabric-covered wings and plywood-covered fuselage, power being provided by a Siemens-Halske Sh I nine-cylinder rotary engine of 100 hp and armament comprising a single synchronised 7,9-mm LMG 08/15 machine gun. After completion of flight testing on 17 March 1916, the E I was recommended for service, and the Idflieg placed a contract for 20 aircraft with the SSW Nurnberg facility. Only five E Is were listed as being at the Front on 31 October 1916, by which time the type had been rendered obsolescent by the appearance during the Battle of the Somme of the Nieuport 11.

Completed early in 1916, the E II was essentially similar to the E I apart from its power plant, the Sh I rotary being replaced by a six-cylinder inline Argus As II engine rated at 120 hp. Armament remained a single 7,9-mm LMG 08/15 machine gun. The sole prototype of the E II was destroyed on 26 June 1916 during a demonstration at Doberitz, its designer, Franz Steffen, who was flying the aircraft, losing his life. No details of the E II are available.

SIEMENS-SCHUCKERT (SSW) E III Germany

Following the small production batch of E I monoplanes, the Siemens-Schuckert-Werke received an Idflieg contract for six additional aircraft designated E III. These differed from the E I only in power plant type. Powered by a 100 hp Oberursel UI nine-cylinder rotary engine, the E III retained the airframe and armament of the E I, a proposed development, the E IV, being similar apart from a circular-section fuselage. The dimensions and performance of the E III were similar to those of the E I.

The joint brainchild of the Steffen Brothers, Franz and Bruno, the Siemens-Schuckert Werke D 5 single seat fighter was completed in the autumn of 1915, but progressed no further than the prototype stage. Visible in the background is the same company's E I prototype, a developed version of which killed designer/pilot Franz Steffen in June 1916.